Melrose Junior Earns Certificate of Recognition for Assistance at Crash Scene

(KNSI) – Melrose High School junior Fernando Estrella was already interested in a potential career in law enforcement. Now he is hooked, says Stearns County Sheriff Deputy Tyler Johnson.

Estrella and Johnson were teamed up for a ride-along on May 18th. They were using the radar gun on Interstate 94 to monitor for excessive speeders when a call came in about a multi-vehicle crash in nearby Freeport.

Johnson explains what happened. “The vehicle that missed a stop sign hit the vehicle going southbound and kind of pinballed off and went into someone’s front yard,” Johnson says.

It was a t-bone type crash that injured at least one person enough to send them to the hospital. Multiple passengers in one of the cars spoke only Spanish. Johnson says he was warned before arriving to the location of the crash he would need to utilize the translator app on his smartphone.

Johnson decided to rely on something, or more accurately, someone else. Estrella knows English, Spanish, and has nearly mastered proficiency in German. The high schooler was able to calm those who were hurt and relay instructions being given by Johnson and the Melrose Ambulance personnel on scene.

Johnson says the experience has had a positive effect on Estrella too.

“His main ultimate goal is to become a K-9 handler. And we’ve spoke since the ride along and he still talks about how cool it was and what a great experience it was. He never thought that riding with me just for a couple hours that day, that he was going to get to experience something like that,” Johnson says.

Estrella was honored Tuesday with a Certificate of Recognition for his assistance during the crash. Presenting the award to Estrella was Deputy Johnson.

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